Changing the world in 5 easy steps – Go Vegan

When I originally thought of this series and was brain storming with people, going vegan was something I always suggested people could do on a personal level that would have a global impact. This was skoffed at by pretty much everyone who had never looked into it on their own, the folks who had whole hearted agreed. That alone was enough reason for me to make the #1 topic on the list, not only because I think it’s a viable example, but I actually think it’s the most impactful thing on the list. The thing is most of the stuff I’m talking about will take something bad and make it good, but this actually goes to the source and cuts out the bad all together. I’ll explain why shortly and provide you with some extensive links for more research if you so choose.

Now before I get much further into this I want to make it clear that the only thing I’m talking about in this example is how what you eat impacts the world you live in and choices to eat more (or less) of some things can have global repercussions. I’m not talking about if veganism is good for you (it is) or healthier than a meat based diet (it is), animal rights, or if people who think you need to eat lots of dairy products to be healthy are just buying into a dairy industry’s marketing ploy (they are). However, since I know there are a lot of people reading this who think humans can’t survive without cheese burgers washed down with an icy glass of milk, I’ll provide some links at the end on that as well for anyone who wants to read up on it. But really, I don’t want to spend too much time on that in this post, if it’s a interesting enough topic I’ll write more about it later but for this “change the world” series those reasons don’t really play into it too much.

So back to the topic at hand: veganism and changing the world. One of the initial sparks of this idea came from people talking about the environment and global warming. A lot of people are very concerned about it, and in talking to many of them I gathered most of them had no idea how to make things better. They could write their congress person and voice support for one legislation or another, they could buy some carbon credits, they could buy a hybrid car – but what effect would all that even have? Would that letter they sent ever get read or make a difference? Do those carbon credits actually do anything, where the hell does that money end up getting spent? And just googling “Hybrid Car Carbon Footprint” will give you a mountain of arguments as to why those aren’t the miracle cure all everyone thought they were. So what could someone who really wants to make the world better by reducing their carbon and trying to slow global warming actually do? I always ask these people if they had looked at their diet. Most responded “why?” And that’s part of the problem.

Eating meat and dairy does two things – the first of which that it requires cows to be raised and milked before they are slaughtered and secondly it supports the meat and dairy industries. The second point is always a focal point for nay sayers who ask “well what if you have a farm and are raising your own… blah blah blah” and basically I think you should STFU with that argument. Very few people are doing that and people can always come up with a “what if” which negates the point – I’m talking actual in practice shit here and for the vast majority of the world if you are eating meat or dairy a good chunk of it is coming from factory farms – if not all of it. And factory farms are stupidly bad for the environment. Late last year Treehugger ran an article called ‘Meat-eating Warrants Same Scrutiny as Driving and Flying‘ which states:

…livestock contribute 18% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, even higher than the GHG emissions from transportation. As part of this figure they produce 37% of methane, which has more than 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. And if that weren’t enough to be concerned about, their manure emits nitrous oxide, 65% of world totals.

But folks like Treehugger aren’t the only ones noticing, The New York Times also ran a piece early last year called ‘Re-thinking the Meat Guzzler‘ which has even more to say about this:

Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.

To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.

Both of those articles are well worth reading, additionally I’d suggest checking out ‘Vegans vs. VegetariansWhat kind of diet is best for the environment?‘ which was published by Slate and for bonus points Helium has one called ‘The effect of factory farming on the environment‘ – though admittedly the Helium piece less about raw info and more about making a point. My point of this is that one person cutting meat and dairy from their diet for an extended period of time reduces the demand for those products and thus reduces the production of them, which reduces the pollution and carbon being spit out by those industries. It’s quite simple math really.

Also worth noting is that it takes considerably more land and resources to produce a single pound of meat than it does a single pound of produce and you can feed a considerably larger number of people with a pound of produce than with a pound of meat. Put simply, raising livestock isn’t the best use of land and reallocating even a small percent of land being used to raise livestock for the production of produce could make a serious dent in world hunger. But that does mean a lot of Americans would need to cut down on their McDonalds intake which probably won’t happen because most of us like to put bumper stickers on our cars rah-rahing for one cause or another but don’t want to be expected to actually adjust our life styles for them. But every person who does makes a difference, something worth thinking about at least.

Comments (19)

Post has a “west coast only” myopic view, lacking an understanding of the culture wars raging right now.

Here in nowheresville Texas organically grown produce is four times the price of non-organic, there are no vegan restaurants and the tiny handful of restaurants that offer a vegan alternative just get cooked in same pans/grill as the meat. The cost of Vegan is out of reach for the average person.

Vegan is part of the damaging, deep division this country is in where everyone is marginalized into one of two categories – nothing in between.

Funny, I can’t help but think that Todd’s comment is quite Texas-centric, as it is ridiculously easy to go vegan in, say, New York — which is almost as far from California as one can go in America. I’m not trying to start an argument (I think Todd’s overall point, that it’s really hard in some places, is a good one) but it’s kind of ironic.

I am not vegan. I am vegetarian, with the occasional exception of a piece or two of fish. The rest of my family eats meat. I try to know where at least 50% of our food comes from. I buy about 95% of our produce from local organic farms, which fortunately do not charge much more than Ralphs and in some cases charge a lot less. I make most of our meals from scratch and we almost never eat out. My next goal is to stop buying eggs in the store and only buy them directly from (small) farmers.

I do think going vegan would — or could — have a slightly better environmental impact, but my philosophy is something of a “whole body” approach, looking at nutrition, cost, and the environment among other factors and weighing the pros and cons of everything when I can.

@Todd actually I went vegan when I was living in nowheresville Florida back in 1993 – you think being vegan is tough in Texas today you got nothing on back then. The closest vegan restaurant was 6 hours away in Atlanta. In the last 16 years I’ve been though every single state in the continental US and not had a problem – as well as much of Europe. sure some places have more readily available then others for sure but there are options everywhere. I’ve certain gotten some head scratches and interesting questions across the south and midwest but no one ever treated me like a leper – even in Texas! And as for your two categories – I think those are extremely myopic because in my vast network of people i know all around the world I barely know anyone who fits in either of those. Which of your to boxes do I, a gun owning & carrying, atheist, vegan with nothing but disdain for most Democrats fit in?

Your resolve is to be admired ( re: fighting to be Vegan for so long ) but that was my poorly written point – Why is it a fight? Why am I made to feel like a freak for asking about a vegan alternative here in Texas? Why are Priuses and Smart cars being vandalized? Why have more abortion clinic employees been shot in Texas than any other state? Why do I fear for my personal safety for being an atheist?

“Which of your to boxes do I, a gun owning & carrying, atheist, vegan with nothing but disdain for most Democrats fit in?”

They are not *my* boxes, and I have nothing but contempt for this “all or nothing” compartmentalization. Look at the local election results, the national ones – all are 49.999% to 50.001 splits, right down the middle. What percentage did Prop 8 pass by in California? 0.00000001%?

…but what box would I put you in? The one marked “Nihilists dat ridez teh fixie”

It’s all about approach and motive Todd, tell people in rural Texas you are vegan because you are trying to protect animals or want to save the environment and they might look at you weird, tell them you have a dairy allergy that could send you to the hospital and land them a lawsuit and the chef will happily cook you up something special and safe.

@Todd I’ve lived in rural Texas and anything will get you beat up there if you have an IQ over 40 and you try and speak to the locals. Not exactly the high watermark for society as a whole. I still have my “Fuck You. We’re from Texas” shirt which sums up the typical Texan vocabulary and attitude towards the world in a nutshell. Your comments, while being widely off the mark have made me smile so I salute you sir.

1. Being vegan really is not that hard. I’ve been vegan for over 10 years, and started when i was living in Buffalo, NY, the land of chicken wings and roast beef on weckerlin rolls. It takes some getting used to at first, yes. And yes, it can make eating out more difficult. But it gets really easy, once you know what to watch out for, and what to cook. You’d be surprised how fast you get used to it. In case anyone is looking for a good vegan cookbook, I recommend the veganomicon.

2. It’s not more expensive to be vegan than an omnivore. Meat, eggs, dairy, etc are expensive! Of course, if you buy the extra fancy prepared deli products from Whole Foods, it’s going to cost more, but that goes for non-vegan food, too. Beans, rice, in-season fruits & veggies, etc are pretty reasonable. It really comes down to how you cook and how you shop. Buy bulk whole grains/dried beans, buy in season, and check circulars for sales. If you eat out all the time, or you eat nothing but processed foods, it’s going to cost more. (Also, if you cook at home, you don’t have to bother with asking wait staff whether something’s vegan.)

3. You can always eat vegan but not be vegan. That is, reducing meat/eggs/dairy is in general a good idea, for the environment and your health (and possibly your pocketbook). You can commit to making a portion of your meals vegan, really easily. Use beans instead of meat in your tacos, for example. This takes no commitment and a pretty small amount of effort.

I’d like to throw in support for Emily’s response, specifically number three because that’s kind of where I am now. I’ve been mixing in vegan and vegetarian meals into my diet for a while now and that is super easy. Also, I know there are a lot of people who don’t like cooking/preparing their own meals but I think that’s the best way to stay healthy no matter what your diet is based on. It’s comforting to know exactly (or at least have a pretty good idea) what you’re going to be putting in your body when you sit down to eat.

Fantastic post man! Had to re-blog this one for sure. The links you provided were great too. I just ordered Peta’s free vegan starter kit to help with the possible transition.
I tried doing the vegetation thing a while back and made it 4 weeks. I think it’s going to be super hard for me because of where I live and the lifestyle I live. I’m hoping I’ll be able to give it another try and stick with it. Only time will tell.

So I am new into the cyber world, but I am a new in an attempt to become vegan. I have been vegetarian most of my life and I thought it was time to step it up. Becoming a vegan does mean change; and that means stepping out of your comfort zone. Educating yourself can be challenging when there is so much marketing scams and ploys in the food industry. People see the governments approval on something and they automatically believe it is good for them. I think of margarine and hydrogenated oils….or corn and high fructose corn syrup for example

Once you start a new routine and find things that work for you, a vegan lifestyle really can become affordable, easy and quite rewarding.

Why James Flores is dumb in 5 easy steps:
1- Please provide documentation of actually clawing your way anywhere, I’d be very interested in your personal story about being at the bottom of the foodchain and working your way up.
2- Recycling has nothing to do with veganism, unless you are eating paper products.
3- Electric/hybrid cars have nothing to do with veganism, unless you are eating your car.
4- Generalizations are retarded.
5- I can’t wait to eat my paper product and hybrid car salad!

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Hi, I’m Sean Bonner

I recently moved to Tokyo after 17 years in Los Angeles. I’ve run hackerspaces and blog networks, an art gallery, design firm and a record label. I’m one of the co-founders of Safecast, and currently act as Global Director. I’m an Associate Professor at Keio University, a Shuttleworth Fellow, an MIT researcher and sit on the board of CicLAvia.